Popular author, born in Bradford on 23 April 1866. He was the son of Joseph Riley (1838-1926), a Bradford stuff merchant until he was bankrupted in 1902 as a result of political turmoil in the Middle East. Both father and son were WM local preachers. Joseph Riley supported the NCHO by giving magic lantern slide lectures and this led to the founding of Riley Bros Ltd, a major provider of lantern slides for illustrated lectures, especially to Sunday Schools. With the outbreak of World War I and the rise of the cinema, this business also went into bankruptcy.

William Riley had already turned to writing. In six years the royalties from his first and probably most popular novel Windyridge (1912), based on the village of Hawksworth and the first book to be published by Herbert Jenkins, covered his business losses. He wrote 36 books, mainly in the inter-war years, including a guide book The Silver Dale (1932) and an autobiography, Sunset Reflections (1957). He later went to live at Silverdale, Lancs. He died on 4 June 1961, while on holiday at St. Annes-on-Sea.

Entry written by: DCD
Category: Person
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